Conservation Status: IUCN

Distribution:

Habitat:

Diet:

Herbivore. Dry, tough grasses, desert shrubs and rushes, the latter available at oasis.

Reproduction:

Breeding season is May and June. Young are born in April and May after a gestation period of 328 - 343 days. There is usually a single birth, seldom twins. Foals suckle for 6-7 months.

Adaptation:

These horses can survive on desert scrub which a domestic horse would reject. They feed from dusk to dawn when the grasses contain some moisture. Herd size usually 3 - 20 led by a stallion, who defends his mares against any danger by driving them in front and defending them from the rear. Stallions will fight for leadership of the herd. These battles sometimes last many hours until the weaker horse succumbs to exhaustion.

Threats to Survival:

Man. Driven from ancestral grazing areas by domestic herds, taken by nomads to breed with domestic horses. Naturally timid, it could not compete for natural water with the domestic herds.